DENVER — In each of their first four games, the Broncos have won the opening coin toss. All four times, Broncos head coach Sean Payton elected to defer.
After getting embarrassed 70-20 in Miami to fall to 0-3, it was almost a surprise Payton didn’t take the ball to start Game 4 at Chicago last week. Clearly, he’s not superstitious when it comes to what he feels is a no-brainer advantage regarding the competition of a 60-minute game. The general rule about deferring: The flow of the game typically works out where your team gets the final two-minute possession of the first half and first possession of the second half.
Back-to-back possessions sandwiched between a 12-minute halftime, meaning the opposing offense spends a long time off the field and out of rhythm.
That doesn’t mean on matters other than deferring, Payton is not superstitious.
“All of us have a couple things, certain things you want to keep consistent,’’ Payton said in an interview this week with 9NEWS for the Broncos Huddle (6:30 p.m. Friday). “When we’re preparing to watch film, I’ll put candles on and make sure the candles are touching for the good mojo. And if we win, try to use them again, and if we don’t play well, get another set of candles.
“And then game day, I think we’re all routine-driven. Look, I don’t chew a lot of gum but on game day, I’ll chew five sticks of Juicy Fruit in the first half and five in the second half. And if we’re playing well, I’ll keep it in, and if we’re not playing well, I’ll spit it out. That would be it.”
Goodness. And to think viewers of the Broncos-Bears’ game last Sunday were making a big deal of Payton having the end of his sleeves cut off before the start of the fourth quarter. It wasn’t for superstitious reasons then, but maybe it will be this Sunday against the New York Jets.
“My wife sent me a clip, and I didn’t know what she was talking about,’’ Payton said. “I had these tight bands on the jacket, and it was kind of warm, so I just wanted, man, these sleeves are cut right here … so maybe I’ll have some cut sleeves this week. That might be the way to go.”
Broncos Country – fans and local media – were thinking Payton should have made significant changes last week after the 50-point loss to the Dolphins. Turns out, he did make a couple. He benched edge rusher Randy Gregory for Nik Bonitto and nickelback Essang Bassey for Ja’Quan McMillian for the game against the Bears. And then two to five days later, the Broncos cut Bassey and traded Gregory to the 49ers in lieu of releasing him.
Bonitto especially made the coach look smart, as he had 2½ sacks with a forced fumble that led to a Jonathon Cooper game-tying, scoop-and-score.
“Those guys on the edge played well,’’ Payton said. “We got the sack-fumble, which was obviously a significant play in that game. You score on defense, every year if you do the numbers, I think you’re an 80% winner. We’re constantly always looking at ourselves as coaches, and then we’re constantly looking at our lineups and trying to put our team in the best position possible.”
Funny how Payton operates. After the embarrassment in Miami, he was loose and friendly with the media and maybe the players. The idea was to keep spirits up. This week, after a win and the 1-3 Jets up next, Payton was much more business-like with the media and perhaps tougher on his players. Come on guys, you haven’t done anything yet.
Is the art of psychological warfare a week-to-week proposition for an NFL head coach?
“You trust your instincts with your team,’’ Payton said. “Look, that was obviously a tough loss down in Miami. There’s certain things you learn – when to push, when to push hard, when to back off.
“I think a lot of it has to do with me being around some really, really good coaches as I was developing as a younger coach and you kind of formulate your own plan. But I’ve always tried to trust my instincts that way and those things have served me well.”
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